Tattoo Issue... Scarring versus Infection...

I just had my seventh tattoo done about a week and a half ago (my first two were homemade and I never had a problem). Although I knew NOT to use Polysporin (first mistake) on the tattoo, I tried it out because my buddy used something similar (Ozonol) on a recent tattoo of his and it healed perfectly in about a week and a half or so. I put the Polysporin on the day after it was done and of course it was tender as hell and so I could not rub it in all the way and left a "top coat" of cream on it (second mistake). A couple of days later I noticed a big part of the tattoo was scabbed up pretty badly and there was a portion of the tattoo that was a bit redder than the rest. I went back to my artist and he told me that it diddnt look infected to him but I should maybe go to the doctor just to be sure. I went to the doctor and she said that it was infected. She gave me antibiotics which I have been on for a week now. The reddness seems to be going away which is good and the scabbing is almost gone completely but I am noticing now that there seems to be a part of the tattoo that looks a bit swollen compared to the rest and when i touch it in that area and press a bit it feels tough and numb. Does this make sense? The reason I ask this is because I am now wondering if maybe the tattoo was not / is not infected in the first place. I have read a bunch of articles on infected tattoos and have even called Health Link (a phone service provided here in my city by nurses) and I never experienced ANY of the other symptoms of infection I heard about. I had no SEVERE pain, no SEVERE itching, no SEVERE swelling, no "puss" or "leakage" of any kind, no fever and no hot spots in the tattoo. I am wondering if the reddness and now the toughness and numbness in the tissue is actually a scar caused by my artist working the skin to hard and going to deep. Can anyone give me some further advice? Thank You.

Not sure this will be of much help but the tattooist has to cover his ass and tell you to go to the Doctor. And the Doctors cover their asses by giving antibiotics, "just in case", since they usually aren't harmful in moderation and taken as prescibed. My first advice would be either way to take your antibiotics properly and until they were all gone. Even if it wasn't infected, it could get infected more easily if it was done too deep or has more scabbing than normal. I can't give a difinitive answer. Only thing I can say is - do NOT go back to this tattooer. Wether it's infected or he went too deep and/or overworked the skin, he/she is obviously not skilled enough to be tattooing you.